Tag Archives: Eric Cantor

The GOP’s short term memory loss on the Sequester

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Republicans on the sequester: then and now –

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Jed Lewison says Eric Cantor has outlined the GOP position on the sequester:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says he hates the sequester:

I don’t want to live with the sequester. I want reductions in spending that make sense. These indiscriminate reductions do not make sense.

But he doesn’t hate it enough to repeal it or replace it with something Democrats and Republicans can agree on. As a result, he says, Republicans will move forward with the sequester.

And we’re going to hurt a lot of people. And it’s up to the president, really, to act now.

So Eric Cantor, who voted for the sequester in the first place, now says it doesn’t make any sense. He says he’d like to replace it, but only with spending cuts that target Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social insurance programs. Cantor says that unless Democrats agree to such cuts, Republicans will move forward with implementing the sequester—even though doing so will “hurt a lot of people.”

Steve Benen felt the need to annotate Eric Cantor’s remarks about the sequester: 

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday and presented an interesting argument regarding looming, automatic sequestration cuts. It’s so amazing, let’s annotate this one paragraph.

“You know, the problem is, David, every time you turn around, the answer is to raise taxes [1]. And, you know, he just got his tax hike on the wealthy. And you can’t, in this town, every three months, raise taxes [2]. And again, every time, that’s his response [3]. And, you know, we’ve got a spending problem. Everybody knows it [4]. The House has put forward an alternative plan [5]. And there’s been no response in any serious way from the Senate or the White House [6].”

Ready for this?

[1] Democrats aren’t proposing a tax increase; they’re proposing a compromise including spending cuts and new revenue through closing tax loopholes.

[2] The new revenue from a slight increase in top marginal rates was the first increase in income tax rates in two decades. Once every 20 years is not the same as once “every three months.”

[3] “His,” in this case, refers to President Obama, who’s repeatedly offered congressional Republicans overly-generous offers on debt reduction. Indeed, that’s what he’s done “every time.”

Read the rest…

Roll Call: Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California has urged Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio to cancel the planned district work period next week so both sides can work out a deal to avert the $85 billion automatic spending cuts under sequester. “Democrats are eager to work with Republicans to find solutions, not sequesters,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Boehner on Monday.

White House spokesman Jay Carney: “The notion much propounded by the spin doctors on the Republican side that the sequester is somehow something that the White House and the president alone wanted and desired is a fanciful confection. The fact of the matter is, as I think you all recall in the wake of the passage of the Budget Control Act, it was the Republicans, including the Republican Leader of the House, who celebrated it as getting 98 percent of what they wanted.”

From the White House Fact Sheet: Sequester (click to read it all): 

Orwell 101: the GOP tries out some new words to adjust for ‘language errors’

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#1: Ix-nay on ape-ray abies-bay comments

Think Progress: “On Tuesday afternoon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) delivered a speech that sought to “rebrand” the GOP as a party that can advance legislation that would improve the lives of the “most vulnerable” Americans…. But a closer look behind Cantor’s policy proposals reveals that House Republicans are still more interested in sounding compassionate than ensuring economic advancement for middle and lower income voters.”

Here are 8 reasons why the new rebranded GOP is just the old GOP (but with new words!):

1. SCHOOL FUNDING
2. HIGHER EDUCATION
3. WORKING MOTHERS
4. TAX REFORM
5. IMMIGRATION
6. OBAMACARE
7. MEDICARE
8. MEDICAID 

Read Cantor’s spiffy, new ‘rebranded’ version of GOP policy on the issues above, vs. the same, old, unchanging reality of their policy here.

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Charlie Pierce hilariously takes apart Cantor’s psyops, comparing it to “Let me tell you about the benefits to your family of fine vinyl siding.” or “Has anyone spoken to you recently about a reverse mortgage?”

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Frank Rich: “The party is what it is. This idea that it’s something else is a fantasy and they’re going to have to get real about it and face the party they have and change it from within, not with stunts involving spending money on advertising.”

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WATCH JON STEWART discuss the rebranding effort currently underway on Fox ‘news.’

Raw Story:  Conservative strategist Frank Luntz, for instance, has called on Republican candidates to “adjust” their “language errors.” [...]  

Luntz said Republicans should stop using the phrase “smaller government” and instead advocate “more effective and efficient government” because voters don’t care about the size of government.

“If you say you want smaller government, the electorate rejects it,” Stewart elaborated. “But if you say you want the government to function more efficiently, the electorate likes it, even though that’s clearly not what you believe.”

Luntz even suggested that instead of talking about controlling or cutting Social Security and Medicare, Republican should talk about saving and strengthening the popular government programs. Though Stewart, amazed at Luntz’s audacity, noted that strengthening Social Security and Medicare was the opposite of what Republicans were proposing.

“Save and strengthen does sound better than the Republican’s actual plan for entitlements, which would cut them, which sounds shitty,” he remarked.

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Click for larger:

via huffpostpolitics

The GOP doesn’t really care about saving money: average defense contractor pay vs. fed pay

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Following the last post on the sequester and comparisons between average salaries of federal workers and defense contractor executives ($45,000 to $760,000), in case you didn’t already know: Republicans are not interested in balancing the budget or saving money. That’s not the business they’re in, no matter how much Fox airtime they expend towards that particular party propaganda. Their business is to take revenue from programs and services that benefit the average American and divert it to corporations — and that’s especially true for the military-industrial complex.

Remember when Mitt Romney made the ridiculous claim that federal workers make more than he does? Take a gander at how much his campaign raked in from three defense contractors (see larger table below):

NORTHRUP GRUMMOND LOCKHEED MARTIN GENERAL DYNAMICS TOTAL
Romney, Mitt (R ) $111,014 $165,244 $86,829 $363,087
Obama, Barack (D) $108,756 $126,932 $41,457 $277,145

And, yeah, the President received contributions from them too. You know what the difference is? Obama hasn’t ever claimed federal workers are overpaid or make more than he does. He wanted to give feds a measly 0.5% salary increase this year, and the GOP rebelled.

By the way, a 0.5% increase on an average annual salary of $45,000 would be a massive $225.00 a year. Who was against that? In January, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) introduced a bill to block the planned raise in 2013 of 0.5% for federal workers, which was co-sponsored by 28 Republicans, including Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The Washington Post reported that Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) “quick scheduling of the bill for a vote demonstrates the priority House GOP members give to holding down federal pay.” Ever notice Republicans never suggest reducing the pay of defense contractors?

The DeSantis Bill currently has 35 co-sponsors and is being held in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Let’s look at how much the bill’s author (and the 10 fastest co-sponsors) received from three of the largest defense contractors:

Ranked by who co-sponsored the quickest 2012 CAMPAIGN DONATIONS FROM:
Cosponsors: H.R.273 [113th] NORTHROP GRUMMAN LOCKHEED MARTIN GENERAL DYNAMICS TOTAL
Issa, Darrell E. [R-CA-49]* $5,000 $10,000 $15,000
Farenthold, Blake [R-TX-27]* $1,000 $2,000 $3,000
Mica, John L. [R-FL-7]* $18,250 $10,000 $7,000 $35,250
Duncan, John J., Jr. [R-TN-2]* $1,000 $4,000 $5,000
Jordan, Jim [R-OH-4]* $1,000 $2,000 $10,000 $13,000
Collins, Doug [R-GA-9]* $1,000 $1,000
Meadows, Mark [R-NC-11]* $0
Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3]* $0
Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4]* $0
Hudson, Richard [R-NC-8]* $2,000 $2,000

And, for good measure:

Cantor, Eric [R-VA] $20,000 $10,000 $10,000 $40,000

And don’t you even worry about Meadows, Yoho, and Massie — they’re brand new and were elected by the tea crowd. They’re still working on their bona fides for future contributions from the big boys. Farenhold and Collins, on the other hand, will simply take even one to three pieces of silver from whomever they can get it.

The GOP’s debt ceiling retreat probably means there will be a government shutdown

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Jonathan Chait says the jig is up, the debt ceiling hostage crisis is over:

It’s over. House Republicans, following a literal and metaphorical retreat, have announced they plan to lift the debt ceiling without extracting policy concessions. Whatever mini-dramas may follow, the GOP leadership has both recognized the need to abandon their strategy of using the debt ceiling as a hostage and also to recognize this publicly. The GOP announcement came wrapped in a face-saving demand …to let right-wingers believe, or at least claim, that they succeeded in extracting some concession in return for not playing Russian roulette with the world economy. But it’s a superficial gesture. The Senate’s failure to pass a budget resolution has become a ubiquitous Republican talking point, but it’s essentially a meaningless technicality. [...]

The main credit here goes to the Obama administration for recognizing that enmeshing the debt ceiling with policy negotiations was a horrible idea that it had to stop dead in its tracks… The whole key to making Obama’s extortion-squelching plan, and saving American government from endless cycles of hostage drama that would eventually end in a default, was to credibly insist that he would not trade anything for a debt ceiling hike… Now, Republicans are only voting on a three-month extension. But this is a face-saving gesture, too. Once they’ve recognized that the debt ceiling isn’t leverage, they have no reason to keep taking painful votes that expose their members to attack ads.

Steve Benen thinks there’s still too many potential Teapublican “glitches” that could occur to consider this a victory just yet:

Even if we assume Democrats accept the GOP’s retreat, which isn’t a sure thing just yet, GOP leaders may once again run into trouble with their own caucus, leaving John Boehner and Eric Cantor dependent on Democratic votes for the third time in four weeks. In an odd twist, it’s not necessarily the case that those intransigent House Republicans want to default and trash the full faith and credit of the United States — on the contrary, many want the debt ceiling to go up. The problem is they don’t want to vote for it. The New York Times calls this “unofficial group” the “Vote No/Hope Yes Caucus.”

Greg Sargent predicts that caving on the debt ceiling means there will be a government shutdown over sequestration cuts — if for nothing else than for the “Vote No/Hope Yes Caucus” to be able to impress its voter base:

On the debt ceiling, at least, this is a complete cave. As noted below, the mere willingness to raise the debt ceiling temporarily was itself an acknowledgment by Republicans that the threat of default gave them no leverage and that they had essentially lost this fight. Now the three month extension means that in practical terms, it’s essentially been removed from the talks entirely.

The GOP will now stage the battle to get the spending cuts it wants around the threat of a government shutdown. Remember, GOP aides have explicitly conceded that instigating a confrontation will be necessary in order to placate House conservatives and Tea Partyers who wanted to flirt with default in order to get their way, but will ultimately be forced to accept the fact that this just ain’t gonna happen. Remember that quote to Politico? House Speaker John Boehner “may need a shutdown just to get it out of their system,” said a top GOP leadership adviser. “We might need to do that for member-management purposes — so they have an endgame and can show their constituents they’re fighting.”

And so it looks as if we’ll now have to deal with the threat of a government shutdown, rather than default, so House conservatives can “get this out of their system.”

These conservatives aren’t in the House or the Senate for the public “service.” They don’t care how well or badly the government runs for the majority of Americans. They’re in Congress for personal fame and job security. They have one bottom line, and that’s to impress their hometown, extremist, tea-smelling voter base — and they’ll happily sacrifice the rest of us to prove themselves.

Attention federal workers: the Republican Party STILL hates you

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Washington Post: The House will consider legislation next week that would extend the freeze on basic federal pay rates through the end of 2013, according to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). The bill, introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and cosponsored by 28 Republicans, would block a planned raise of 0.5 percent that is scheduled to take effect after a temporary spending measure expires in March. Republicans have introduced similar legislation previously, but Cantor’s quick scheduling of the bill for a vote demonstrates the priority House GOP members give to holding down federal pay.

Joe Davidson: Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, called his action “a continuation of the anti-federal-worker line of attack that became an all-too-familiar staple of the 112th Congress, particularly in the House. More than two dozen bills were introduced during that two-year period aimed at federal pay, benefits and rights.” [...]  “The hardworking men and women who make up the federal workforce have made a substantial sacrifice over the past two years to help bring down the deficit,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Efforts by House Republicans to constantly use federal employees as a piggy bank — especially when the vast majority of their caucus refuses to ask millionaires to contribute more to reducing our deficit — are unconscionable. We cannot keep asking them to contribute more than their fair share as we work to put our fiscal house in order.”

GovExec: “This bill is nothing more than another direct attack on hardworking public servants,” said NARFE President Joseph A. Beaudoin, in a Jan. 18 letter to representatives. “Instead of pushing political messaging bills, Congress should focus on the real issues lawmakers need to address in the next two months, including sequestration, the debt limit and the expiring continuing resolution.” Beaudoin criticized some members’ reliance on a 2012 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which concluded that federal workers on average earn more than their private-sector counterparts. The study controlled for various factors, including occupation, education and work experience; despite its overall conclusion, CBO did find that most highly educated feds earn less than their private-sector counterparts. “But even if you assume that federal employees are overpaid on average — an incorrect assumption — it does not follow that all federal employees are overpaid,” Beaudoin wrote. “[...] Both Beaudoin and Kelley said government workers have already contributed $103 billion to deficit reduction over the next decade as a result of the pay freeze and the smaller pay increase for 2013 that President Obama wants for employees. Based on the Employment Cost Index, federal pay scales should have increased by 1.7 percent in January. Beaudoin also cited feds’ contribution of $15 billion from the 2.3 percent increase in retirement contributions that new hires must pay. “Enough is enough,” Beaudoin said. “It is time Congress found other ways to reduce the deficit then to continually take from those who dedicate their lives to public service.”

257 to 167

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The measure, brought to the House floor less than 24 hours after its passage in the Senate, was approved 257 to 167, with 85 Republicans joining 172 Democrats in voting to allow income taxes to rise for the first time in two decades, in this case for the highest-earning Americans. Voting no were 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats. — NBC News

There’s an incredible number of articles / posts that are judging the “winners” and “losers” of yesterday’s lengthy House soap opera (see this). I happen agree with John Cole’s assessment the most:

The winners in all of this are Obama, the Senate, and Nancy, who once again impressively whipped her caucus and had only 16 no votes. The vote was effectively over when 30 Republicans voted in favor, but Pelosi still managed to keep all but 16. I have no idea who they are, but I am sure it will be an mix of folks voting against for idiosyncratic district regions and a few diehard progressives. Pelosi is perhaps the best leader I have ever seen at whipping her caucus. She’s better than DeLay, and she leaves no fingerprints. She’s really fucking amazing.

The biggest loser, I think, is Cantor, who came out against the bill before Boehner and then could not deliver 218 votes for an amended bill. Boehner probably worked with Pelosi and delivered the necessary votes from safe districts and then released others in more difficult situations to vote against. Don’t be confused by the small number of Republican “yea” votes, as right now, Cantor, Louis Gohmert, the teahadists, and manic progressives like Matt Stoller (all of whom are nihilists) are probably singing Bill Joel at a piano bar over scotch in Georgetown. Boehner’s support was deep enough in the caucus to deliver that many votes while releasing dozens of others to vote against, and he is probably safe as speaker. Cantor, I think, is done.

Boehner and Paul Ryan voted for the bill; “Dead Eyes” Cantor and Marco Rubio voted against it (let taxes go up on the real ‘Mericans!). The GOP presidential primary in 2016 will be interesting since Republican base-rubes are such complete masochists.

The 112th Teapublican-heavy Congress: the least productive Congress in 64 years

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NBC News reports on the aftermath of the Republican Party’s losing strategy to put party before country, in a very unpatriotic attempt to make Obama a one-term President by bringing government to a halt, resulting in two years of Doing Nothing and Getting Paid For It:

“By passing just 196 bills into law so far, it is in the running to become the least productive Congress since the 1940s. In fact, that amount is 710 fewer public laws than was produced by the 80th Congress (from 1947-48), which first earned the moniker “Do-Nothing” Congress.

[...] The U.S. House Clerk’s office keeps official records of all congressional activity dating as far back as 1947. During those 65 years and 33 different Congresses, more than 20,000 public laws have been passed. The 104th Congress (1995-1996) currently holds the record low for passing the fewest pieces of legislation since 1947 — just 333 bills were passed into law during that two-year span.

[...] The 107th Congress (2001-2002) is next, passing only 377 new laws during its time in Washington. To avoid earning the distinction as the least productive Congress since 1947, 138 bills must move through the House and Senate before the end of this Congress next month.”

— WORST CONGRESS SINCE THE 1940S

The 113th Congress may not be much better. The Washington Post reports that Eric Cantor released the 2013 schedule for the House, and they’re scheduled to meet ONLY 126 DAYS IN 2013!

House lawmakers are scheduled to meet for 126 days in 2013, a slight increase from this year, but in line with the Republican strategy of giving lawmakers extended periods to spend back home. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) released the schedule for the first session of the 113th Congress on Friday. The Senate has not yet announced its 2013 schedule, but if history is any guide, senators will generally be in session for four-week stretches between recesses. As with both sessions of the 112th Congress, the House will keep with a two-weeks-on, one-week-off plan that was a boon for the 89 GOP freshmen lawmakers who sought reelection this year. Democrats regularly bemoaned the schedule, arguing that lawmakers should have been spending more time in Washington working to address the nation’s struggling economy and that the time spent away from the Capitol contributed to the rancorous, partisan nature of most debates. But Cantor said Friday that lawmakers need the time back home for what his office has dubbed “district work periods.”

Grover Norquist is now considered “an impediment to good governing”

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Instead of reducing government to a size where we can “drown it in a bathtub,” it appears that Grover’s tax pledge might be circling the drain.

The People spoke — will Republican Party politicians really listen?

Raw Story: Former Bush campaign advisor Matthew Dowd on Sunday slammed anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, blaming his organization for GOP obstruction in Congress. Dowd said on ABC’s This Week that every member of Congress knew — but refused to admit — that the federal deficit could only be lowered by raising tax rates on the wealthy, cutting defense spending and reforming entitlement programs like Medicare. “And they also all know that Grover Norquist is an impediment to good governing,” he added. “The only good thing about Grover Norquist is he’s named after a character from Sesame Street.”

Huffington Post: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) appeared to take a step back from anti-tax champion Grover Norquist on Monday, suggesting that a “no new taxes” pledge coordinated by Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform group wouldn’t determine his legislative duties regarding ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations. “When I go to the constituents that have reelected me, it is not about that pledge,” Cantor said on MSNBC. “It really is about trying to solve problems.”

TPM: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said that fixing the nation’s debt problem may require breaking Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge, telling a Georgia television station Wednesday that “I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge.”

Huffington Post: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN): “I’m not obligated on the pledge,” Corker told Charlie Rose of CBS News, responding to a question about growing disenchantment among Republicans who had previously stood in agreement with Norquist’s strict “no new taxes” pledge. “I was just elected. The only thing I’m honoring is the oath I take when I serve when I’m sworn in this January.”

Raw Story: Leading House representative Peter King observed on Sunday: One cannot be held to “a pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago,” the New York lawmaker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “For instance, if I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed a declaration of war against Japan. I’m not going to attack Japan today,” he said. “The world has changed,” said King, “and the economic situation is different.”

TPM: Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson: “For heaven’s sake, you have Grover Norquist wandering the earth in his white robes saying that if you raise taxes one penny, he’ll defeat you,” he told CNN back in May. “He can’t murder you. He can’t burn your house. The only thing he can do to you, as an elected official, is defeat you for reelection. And if that means more to you than your country when we need patriots to come out in a situation when we’re in extremity, you shouldn’t even be in Congress.”

Finally, Warren Buffett has a message for Grover Norquist: Higher taxes won’t keep the super-rich from trying to make money. In an op-ed for The New York Times published Monday, Buffett asks readers to imagine they’ve been offered a great investment opportunity. “Would your reply possibly be this? “Well, it all depends on what my tax rate will be on the gain you’re saying we’re going to make. If the taxes are too high, I would rather leave the money in my savings account, earning a quarter of 1 percent.” Only in Grover Norquist’s imagination does such a response exist,” Buffett writes.

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“Anti-Tax fetishist Grover Norquist owns a bust of Ronald Reagan, who raised taxes 11 times.” — John Fugelsang

 

Might as well: the Do Nothing Congress will now take a two-month vacation

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House Quits Until After Elections: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced that the House of Representatives won’t be returning to session after next week until after the Nov. 6 elections, National Journal reports. A planned one week in Washington at the start of October has been scrapped.

On Thursday Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said:

“I want you to know the Democrats stand ready to be here for as long as it takes to pass a jobs bill, to come to agreement on a budget bill, to avoid the sequester… Unfortunately, the Do Nothing Congress wants to go home. Instead of leaving town for seven weeks after being gone for four or five weeks [this summer], let’s work across the aisle to restore fiscal responsibility, put people to work, and strengthen the middle class. We absolutely have to do that for the American people,”

Republican Labor Day: the day we celebrate employers?

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Josh Marshall comments on Eric Cantor’s Labor Day message yesterday:

Labor Day, the day we celebrate … employers.

Look, I don’t expect Republicans, whose party has moved to a place of mutual loathing with the US Labor Movement, to use Labor Movement slogans. But people “who have taken a risk …. and built a business”? Really?

The Sea of Galilee Swimming Team: Republican champions 2011

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Republicans are very serious about Israel and holy sites. Except when they’re drunk. We know how Republicans act when people are actually watching and listening *cough*Todd Akin*cough* but have you ever wondered how they conduct themselves when no one is watching? Wonder no more:

During a fact-finding congressional trip to the Holy Land last summer, Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) took off his clothes and jumped into the [Sea of Galilee, a Christian holy site], joining a number of members, their families and GOP staff during a night out in Israel, the sources told POLITICO. Other participants, including the daughter of another congressman, swam fully clothed, while some lawmakers partially disrobed. More than 20 people took part in the late-night dip in the sea, according to sources who were participants in the trip.

[...] These GOP sources confirmed the following freshmen lawmakers also went swimming that night: Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.) and his daughter; Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and his wife; Reps. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.). Many of the lawmakers who ventured into the lake said they did so because of the religious significance of the waters. Others said they were simply cooling off after a long day. Several privately admitted that alcohol may have played a role in why some of those present decided to jump in.

Who didn’t stick around after dinner to drunk skinny dip in the Sea of Galilee?

But Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who was the senior most GOP lawmaker in Israel on the trip, was so upset about the antics that he rebuked the 30 lawmakers the morning after the Aug. 18, 2011, incident, saying they were distracting from the mission of the trip.

Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was also on the privately funded excursion, which means two of the three top House Republicans were a part of this trip. Neither Cantor nor McCarthy went swimming that night, the sources said. Some of their staff did.

What happened? A dressing down, that’s what!

A Cantor spokesman confirmed that the majority leader dressed down his Republican colleagues and that a staffer was later interviewed by FBI agents. “Twelve months ago, [Cantor] dealt with this immediately and effectively to ensure such activities would not take place in the future,” said Doug Heye, Cantor’s deputy chief of staff.

[...] On the night in question, the GOP group checked into Scots Hotel, where rooms could run up to $1,000 each night. At 8:45 p.m., they headed to Decks, a popular restaurant located on the sea, according to an itinerary filed with the House Ethics Committee.

As dinner was winding down, Cantor and McCarthy left the restaurant, but the most of the other lawmakers and staff stayed behind, and the drinking continued, according to several sources who attended the dinner.

After what they describe as a “long, hot day,” more than 20 lawmakers and senior aides decided to jump into the sea, sources said. Some went in wearing all their clothes, although others partially undressed.

Yoder removed all his clothes, the only person to do so, according to multiple sources.

Senior aides also jumped into the Sea of Galilee. They included Steve Stombres, Cantor’s chief of staff; Tim Berry, McCarthy’s chief of staff; Laena Fallon, Cantor’s former communications director and Emily Murray, McCarthy’s top health care aide. Kristi Way, a top Cantor staffer, was also on the trip.

Who paid for these shenanigans?

The American Israel Educational Foundation, a group related to AIPAC, the prominent pro-Israel advocacy group, sponsored the trip, which ran from Aug. 13 to Aug. 21, 2011. The trip cost AIEF upwards of $10,000 per person, according to records filed with the House Ethics Committee. More than 60 people took part in this AIEF trip.

It was hot and I was drunk.. oh! and religiously significant — I felt closer to Jesus! What else is there to say? It’s very likely that any excursion by a group of Republicans where they have the opportunity to be themselves and let their hair down, so to speak, frequently winds up looking like the morning after a frat party in Vegas.

Next month’s convention is the next scheduled party. Hope they all decide to pack swimsuits.

How the Republican Party always distracts the rubes: gays and abortion

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Yesterday while John Boehner and the rest of the Teapublican House were busy trying to give the super rich an average of $160,000 more in tax cuts, increase taxes on the rest of us by about $1,000, and protect “small businesses” like Bain Capital, they had a couple of familiar shiny objects to distract the rubes in their voting base from paying attention:

1) Chick-Fil-A Appreciation / Hate the Gays Day! 

Chick-fil-A Wants Nothing To Do With Mike Huckabee’s Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day: “The former Arkansas governor created the event on his Facebook page, where he wrote that he was “incensed at the vitriolic assaults” made on Chick-fil-A as a result of their stance against gay marriage. To fight back, Huckabee said, Americans should swarm Chick-fil-A stores across the country on August 1 to show their support. Many customers seemed to have listened. In Indiana, a Chick-fil-A employee posted a photo of his store’s record-breaking sales. In Conway, Arkansas, a store reported record crowds. Dozens of tweets reported lines wrapped around the block. [...] Meanwhile, Wendy’s also appears to have a beef with the day. After a conservative blogger tweeted about a local Wendy’s sign recommending Chick-fil-A, the fast food chain wrote back: “An independent franchisee posted the sign, which he’s taken down. We proudly serve ALL customers.”"

Miss Lindsey Graham seems to appreciate the knee-jerk hate and bigotry of his Teagealical base — he must gladly pander to pseudo-Christians to keep his job:

christopherstreet: Unctuously prissy Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at a Chick-Fil-A yesterday.

2) Yet another, new abortion bill! (jobs, jobs, jobs): 

House Defeats Ceremonial DC Late Term Abortion Bill: “The House participated in perhaps one of the year’s most blatant displays of political kabuki theater Tuesday, shooting down a ban on late term abortions in the District of Columbia that had virtually no chance of passing. Majority Leader Eric Cantor had scheduled the abortion vote – a major priority of the National Right to Life Committee – despite the objections of moderates and even some conservatives who viewed the vote as little more than bait for the conservative base.”

Even REPUBLICANS are getting sick of the righwing extremists in Congress:

Rep. Mary Bono Mack blasts D.C. abortion vote | The Desert Sun: “A House bill this week to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in Washington D.C. may have failed to gain enough of a majority to pass, but it certainly spawned a heated debate on the House floor afterward. Republican Reps. Mary Bono Mack and Robert Dold questioned House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for about 10 minutes after the 220-154 vote on Tuesday, according to Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. [...] On Wednesday, Bono Mack spokesman Ken Johnson said he wouldn’t detail the discussion with Cantor of Virginia, but explained the seven-term Palm Springs Republican’s frustration with the bill she and Dold of Illinois opposed. [...] “But, clearly, Congresswoman Bono Mack was frustrated about both the policy and process surrounding the abortion bill. There was no exception for rape or incest — absolutely none — and no amendments were allowed. “Additionally, this was on the suspension calendar, which historically is reserved for noncontroversial bills that enjoy broad support. In this case, 154 members voted against it.”” 

Roll Call News: “House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was confronted on the floor this evening by Republican Reps. Mary Bono Mack (Calif.) and Robert Dold (Ill.), who were livid he had scheduled a tough abortion vote, according to someone who witnessed the incident. Both voted against the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have criminalized abortions in Washington, D.C., past 20 weeks of pregnancy. “Are you kidding me? How many times are we going to vote on this?” Bono Mack told Cantor in the heated exchange, according to the witness.”

But it’s about the economy… right, Mitt?

Eric Cantor tried to slide a personal loophole into the insider trading bill

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What does Eric Cantor regret most? That someone actually caught his little sleight-of-hand:

The Raw Story: “House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) office wrote a loophole into the House version of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (STOCK) exempting Congress members’ spouses and children from having to report stock market transactions over $1,000 in a timely manner. [...] The law, which bars members of Congress from trading stocks based on information they get for work purposes and requires them to register any stock transactions over $1,000 within 45 days, was signed into effect in April, and was praised at the time for being a bipartisan effort.”

“It was not the intention of the House to differ with the Senate-passed bill with respect to application to spouses and dependent children. We did not believe at the time that we had differed from what the Senate had done. Since new information has been brought to our attention with respect to this discrepancy, we are reviewing our options regarding transaction reports in the House of Representatives.” — Doug Heye, a spokesperson for Cantor’s office

Oh sure. Nothing different at all about the Senate including spouses and children in the reporting requirements and Cantor deliberately removing that requirement.

Tea Party Go!

Your GOP-led Congress and jobs, jobs, jobs

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Dave Weigel remarks on the lousy jobs forecast and how your Congress is ON IT:

“Michele Bachmann assures us that the economy is struggling because of “uncertainty.” Mitt Romney wants the “kick in the gut” to end. Amid all the verbs and gerunds expressing disappointment, Eric Cantor gives us a sort of heads-up about how Congress will respond: “In the coming weeks, the House will vote to stop the tax hike on working families and remove the red tape burdening small businesses to reduce uncertainty and make America more competitive.” What this means, functionally: The House will hold yet another vote on full repeal of the Affordable Care Act. It will pass, and die in the Senate. Tread carefully. After that vote, you don’t want to be mobbed on the street by newly certainty-infused people offering you jobs.”

And another thing:

Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus

Sheldon Adelson plans to purchase the very best White House his money can buy

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Daily Intel reports: Conservative casino magnate Sheldon Adelson has reportedly pledged a total of $35 million to three conservative nonprofits: the Karl Rove–linked Crossroads GPS, an unspecified group with ties to the Koch brothers, and a third affiliated with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. This is in addition to the $10 million he gave to pro-Romney super-PAC Restoring Our Future last week… Sources say he’s ready to commit $100 million to right-wing causes and candidates this year.

Remember that $100 million to Sheldon Adelson is about $300 – $400 to an average family.

Additionally, John McCain said recently that Sheldon Adelson “is indirectly injecting millions of dollar in Chinese foreign money into Mitt Romney’s presidential election effort,” according to Josh Rogin.

Those facts would probably be reported more by the mainstream media, if all the billionaires didn’t own the mainstream media.